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Keeping your house safe from winter's worst

Winter can create a beautiful landscape outside your home, but snow and ice can also be a problem for your palace.

Clearing your sidewalks and driveway are always a good idea when it snows, but there are other things you should remember when Old Man Winter comes calling.

Frozen pipes that burst are never any fun and can create a real mess in your basement or elsewhere in your house. Pipes in attics, crawl spaces and outside walls are particularly vulnerable.

Be sure to drain all outdoor hoses and disconnect them from the faucet. Turn off the outside water lines and open the spigots to drain the standing water in the pipes.

To prevent water pipes from freezing, wrap outdoor faucets and pipes in unheated areas with an insulating material.

Keep a trickle of water running from the indoor faucet that's farthest away from the main water pipe (where the water enters the house). That should keep the pipes from freezing.

Place an insulation jacket around your water heater if it's in an unheated area.

Home owners with high efficiency, direct vent furnaces and water heaters need to make sure the vents have not been covered with snow or blocked in any way. A blocked vent means a furnace and water heater won't operate.

Ice dams are an accumulation of ice at the lower edge of a sloped roof. When the heat from inside the home melts the snow, water can run down and refreeze at the roof's edge.

If the ice builds up and blocks water from draining off the roof, water is forced under the roof covering and into your attic or down the inside walls of your house.

To reduce the risk of ice dams forming during the winter months, make sure your gutters are clear of leaves and debris.

Keep the attic well-ventilated so snow doesn't melt and refreeze at the roof's edge. Try to keep the temperature in the attic close to the outside temperature.

Watch for snow accumulation on the leeward (downwind) side of a higher level roof where snow will collect. Most roofs are designed to bear the load of the heaviest snow. For safe removal of the snow, contact a roofing contractor. An icy roof is extremely dangerous.

Heavy snow accumulation can also cause some serious problems. Be sure to remove snow from basement stairwells, window wells and all walls. Melting snow can lead to water damage.

If you do get water in your home from burst pipes or ice dams, turn off the electrical power until you find out from an expert if it's alright to turn it back on.

If you have a home mail box, remember to maintain it properly to continue to receive mail.

Be sure to contact our insurance agent for more tips on keeping your house safe this winter.

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